Reducing the climate change impacts of lithium-ion batteries by their cautious management through integration of stress factors and life cycle assessment

Jenu, Samppa; Deviatkin, Ivan; Hentunen, Ari; Myllysilta, Marja; Viik, Saara; Pihlatie, Mikko

doi:10.1016/j.est.2019.101023

Cited by 40 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…All the analyzed indicators are midpoint (directly linked to chemical compounds), presenting a lower uncertainty level in comparison with endpoint indicators ( Bare et al., 2000 ) as they are not linked to cause-effect framework, such as the impacts regarding human health (measured as Disability Adjusted Life Years, DALY) or biodiversity lose (species disappeared per year). Special attention has been paid to the impact in Global Warming Potential (GWP) measured in kg·CO 2 -eq because it provides a mean for an easy comparison with the environmental impacts associated with other energy storage systems ( Jenu et al., 2020 ). EV fabrication doubles the GWP in comparison with combustion engine cars as a result of the environmental burdens associated with battery production.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative life cycle assessment of high performance lithium-sulfur battery cathodes

López

Akizu‐Gardoki

Lizundia

2021

Journal of Cleaner Production

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Lithium-sulfur (Li–S) batteries present a great potential to displace current energy storage chemistries thanks to their energy density that goes far beyond conventional batteries. To promote the development of greener Li–S batteries, closing the existing gap between the quantification of the potential environmental impacts associated with Li–S cathodes and their performance is required. Herein we show a comparative analysis of the life cycle environmental impacts of five Li–S battery cathodes with high sulfur loadings (1.5–15 mg·cm −2 ) through life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and cradle-to-gate boundary. Depending on the selected battery, the environmental impact can be reduced by a factor up to 5. LCA results from Li–S batteries are compared with the conventional lithium ion battery from Ecoinvent 3.6 database, showing a decreased environmental impact per kWh of storage capacity. A predominant role of the electrolyte on the environmental burdens associated with the use of Li–S batteries was also found. Sensitivity analysis shows that the specific impacts can be reduced by up to 70% by limiting the amount of used electrolyte. Overall, this manuscript emphasizes the potential of Li–S technology to develop environmentally benign batteries aimed at replacing existing energy storage systems.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative life cycle assessment of high performance lithium-sulfur battery cathodes

López

Akizu‐Gardoki

Lizundia

2021

Journal of Cleaner Production

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“…However, accounting for different roundtrip efficiencies and lifetimes is essential when comparing different battery technologies. [10,31,34,51,[102][103][104] Other characteristics may be more or less relevant, depending on the specific application. For example, pack weight will impact vehicle efficiency in an electric car, truck, or aircraft, while weight is far less relevant for stationary applications.…”

Section: Use Phasementioning

confidence: 99%

Life‐Cycle Assessment Considerations for Batteries and Battery Materials

Porzio

Scown

2021

Advanced Energy Materials

137

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Rechargeable batteries are necessary for the decarbonization of the energy systems, but life‐cycle environmental impact assessments have not achieved consensus on the environmental impacts of producing these batteries. Nonetheless, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool to inform the development of better‐performing batteries with reduced environmental burden. This review explores common practices in lithium‐ion battery LCAs and makes recommendations for how future studies can be more interpretable, representative, and impactful. First, LCAs should focus analyses of resource depletion on long‐term trends toward more energy and resource‐intensive material extraction and processing rather than treating known reserves as a fixed quantity being depleted. Second, future studies should account for extraction and processing operations that deviate from industry best‐practices and may be responsible for an outsized share of sector‐wide impacts, such as artisanal cobalt mining. Third, LCAs should explore at least 2–3 battery manufacturing facility scales to capture size‐ and throughput‐dependent impacts such as dry room conditioning and solvent recovery. Finally, future LCAs must transition away from kg of battery mass as a functional unit and instead make use of kWh of storage capacity and kWh of lifetime energy throughput.

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“…Drying was performed in an oven under natural convection for 12 h at 45 • C. Finally, representative dry samples were prepared for characterization. The flotation recoveries were calculated using Equation (1).…”

Section: Froth Flotationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the key technology to electrify transportation, which is one of the multiple measures proposed to prevent global warming [1]. With its dominant application in electric mobility, the global battery demand is forecast to increase 14-fold by 2030 from 2018 levels, consequently driving the demand for battery materials such as Co, Li, Ni, and graphite [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Separation Efficiency in End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Batteries Flotation Using Attrition Pre-Treatment

et al. 2022

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The comminution of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) produces a powder containing the active cell components, commonly referred to as “black mass.” Recently, froth flotation has been proposed to treat the fine fraction of black mass (<100 µm) as a method to separate anodic graphite particles from cathodic lithium metal oxides (LMOs). So far, pyrolysis has been considered as an effective treatment to remove organic binders in the black mass in preparation for flotation separation. In this work, the flotation performance of a pyrolyzed black mass obtained from an industrial recycling plant was improved by adding a pre-treatment step consisting of mechanical attrition with and without kerosene addition. The LMO recovery in the underflow product increased from 70% to 85% and the graphite recovery remained similar, around 86% recovery in the overflow product. To understand the flotation behavior, the spent black mass from pyrolyzed LIBs was compared to a model black mass, comprising fully liberated LMOs and graphite particles. In addition, ultrafine hydrophilic particles were added to the flotation feed as an entrainment tracer, showing that the LMO recovery in overflow products is a combination of entrainment and true flotation mechanisms. This study highlights that adding kerosene during attrition enhances the emulsification of kerosene, simultaneously increasing its (partial) spread on the LMOs, graphite, and residual binder, with a subsequent reduction in selectivity.

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Reducing the climate change impacts of lithium-ion batteries by their cautious management through integration of stress factors and life cycle assessment

Cited by 40 publications

References 46 publications

Comparative life cycle assessment of high performance lithium-sulfur battery cathodes

Comparative life cycle assessment of high performance lithium-sulfur battery cathodes

Life‐Cycle Assessment Considerations for Batteries and Battery Materials

Improving Separation Efficiency in End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Batteries Flotation Using Attrition Pre-Treatment

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